The WTA rankings are based on a 52-week, cumulative system. A player's ranking is determined by her results at a maximum of 16 tournaments for singles and 11 for doubles.

The tournaments that count towards a playear's ranking are those that yield the highest ranking points during the rolling 52-week period. They must include points from the Grand Slams and Premier Mandatory tournaments; for those players who qualify, ranking points earned at the WTA Finals will count as the 17th bonus tournament. For Top 20 players, their best two results at Premier 5 tournaments (Doha, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto and Wuhan) will also count.

In order to appear on the WTA rankings, players must earn ranking points in at least three tournaments, or a minimum of 10 singles ranking points or 10 doubles ranking points in one or more tournaments.